1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of animal husbandry, and in particular to an apparatus and a method for collecting, and automatically analyzing urine from an animal over an extended period of time.
2. Description of the Related Art
Veterinarians and others involved in animal husbandry often analyze urine from an animal such as a cat or a dog to monitor the health of the animal. The urine is frequently measured for its pH, osmolarity, and other characteristics which can provide important information about the health of the animal. For example, the pH of a cat's urine may be related to the presence of feline urinary tract disease, a disease which afflicts significant numbers of cats. A single urine sample may be collected to make a spot check, or urine samples may be collected over a period of time from the animal to more accurately characterize the animal's health status.
Innovations for improving animal health may be developed by monitoring animal health through analysis of urine samples. For example, improved animal feed regimens may be developed from urine analysis health assessments of animals placed on specific feed regimens while the animals are on the feed regimens. Feed regimens which are found to improve the health of the animals may then be selected for further use.
Although analyzing animal urine is often a useful method for obtaining information about the health of the animal, urine collection has been difficult or has introduced impurities into the urine sample, while analysis has been time consuming and tedious. A commonly used method of obtaining a urine sample from an animal such as a dog or a cat has been to collect the sample directly from the animal's bladder. A needle is passed through the skin of the animal into the animal's bladder and urine is withdrawn from the bladder. This method of collecting urine, although effective, is invasive and causes the animal discomfort as well as creates a risk of injury to the animal. Furthermore, repeated urine collection from the bladder can increase the risk of bladder disease in the animal. In addition, each urine sample collected must be individually analyzed by a researcher, which may be quite time consuming if several animals are being tested to determine the effect of an innovation such as a feed regimen. Animal urine collection devices have been developed to provide a more convenient, safer way to collect urine from an animal. U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,206 to Spina provides an animal cage which permits collection of solid and liquid animal wastes for analysis. The animal cage has a perforated floor positioned over a sloped floor. Liquid waste from an animal in the cage passes through the perforated floor and is accumulated at the lowest point of the sloped floor where the waste is collected for analysis. U.S. Pat. No. 4,326,481 to Gruss provides an apparatus and procedure for collecting urine from cats. Flow through granular material is used as litter in a pan. Urine from a cat flows through the granular material and pools in the pan where it is collected for analysis.
These devices eliminate the need for invasive removal of urine from an animal but do not provide a fresh urine sample for analysis. Urine is accumulated in a pool in each of the devices to be collected at a later time for analysis. Pooled animal urine is quite susceptible to bacterial and/or chemical breakdown. Urine that has been bacterially or chemically altered may yield inaccurate analytical results, therefore a fresh urine sample is highly desirable. Furthermore, each urine sample collected from these devices must still be individually analyzed by a researcher.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide an apparatus for collecting a urine sample from an animal and automatically analyzing the fresh urine sample.